Dog dirt put through Clegg office door

The Deputy Prime Minister, who has accused Labour of being "vitriolic" towards him since the General Election, was targeted soon after the coalition was formed, it has emerged.

The Liberal Democrat leader has taken criticism for backing spending cuts and faced particular anger in Sheffield, where he is MP for the Hallam constituency, at the axeing of an 80m loan to steel-maker Forgemasters.

Mr Clegg has previously described the "vicious" response he has faced by Labour opponents in South Yorkshire since the election, when he led the Liberal Democrats into coalition with the Tories rather than siding with Gordon Brown's party.

In a recent interview with the Yorkshire Post, Mr Clegg said of the response to him in Sheffield: "Labour's getting very vitriolic and very personal. Labour are very bad losers. They clearly think in a hung parliament the only deal which should ever be done is a deal where they're in the driving seat.

"So they've been very angry that we decided to do something different. I'm very frustrated that Labour, having created this monumental mess that we're having to sort out in Sheffield and elsewhere, now deny any responsibility for it."